MEMBERS of a rogue driveway gang thwarted by the Bristol-based South West Scambuster team have been jailed for 27 months between them.
William Birch, pictured below right, Fred Steven and their driver Allan Smith would cold call at homes and farms around the West Country, including in South Gloucestershire, touting for work.
Bristol Crown Court heard yesterday that they would dress themselves and their vehicles to make it appear that they were council workers. They would mislead customers about the final price and deliver low quality work.
Birch, 58, of Pershore in Worcestershire and Steven, 63, of Milton-under- Wychwood, Oxfordshire, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud between August 2008 and March 2010.
Smith, 51, of Brockworth, Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation in that he was paid £80 a day driving for the gang and, without declaring the work, claimed £376 in benefit.
Judge Carol Hagen jailed Birch for 15 months and Steven for a year.
She handed Smith a £500 fine, with £100 costs, to be paid in 28 days.
Edward Burgess, prosecuting, said the gang called at isolated farms and claimed to be local authority contractors with leftover tarmac which they could lay cheaply and immediately.
Mr Burgess cited examples where a price was agreed but inflated after the job was done. Sometimes the gang made verbal contracts for jobs by the square yard, before invoicing for work by the square foot.
Although there were examples of satisfied customers, a chartered building surveyor called to a complaint investigated by Scambusters found the tar surfacing did not have proper preparatory work, was not thick enough and had no edging.
The total charged in the 22 cases brought before the court was £36,000, although stopped cheques meant the gang's haul was considerably less.
Kannan Siva, defending Steven, said his client was not in good health. He said some people had been satisfied with the work done.
Christopher Smyth, defending Birch, said his client had never claimed benefit and was a father to a 35-year-old man needing 24-hour-a- day care.
George Threlfall, defending Smith, said he did not drive the gang for all of the fraudulent jobs.
The judge told the men: "Those who deliberately flout legislation in place to protect the public must be aware that custody will follow if they are convicted."
Alan Evans, manager of the South West Scambuster Team, said: "We will not tolerate these people preying on the vulnerable people within our communities. We will take the strongest action possible to bring these people to justice and strip them of all their assets they received from their criminal activities."
City council cabinet member for communities Guy Poultney said: "This is a great example of how joint working across the whole of the South West can root out these dangerous criminals who have preyed upon often vulnerable people.
"They can no longer escape detection by just moving on to trick people in another area."
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